How much does gout have to do with alcohol?
February 17, 2021
How much does gout have to do with alcohol?
Gout is a disease in which uric acid accumulates in the body and crystallizes, causing severe arthritis.
It has been known for a long time as a disease that is accompanied by severe pain, so much so that there is a theory that even a breeze hitting the part of the body where the pain attack is occurring is painful, hence the name “gout”.
It has been known for a long time as a disease with severe pain. However, in fact, alcohol alone does not raise uric acid levels.
About 70% of uric acid is produced in the body, and about 30% is produced by food.
The cause of this uric acid is a substance called purine, which is found in the nuclei of plant and animal cells.
Alcohol itself does not contain any cells, so it is a purine-free drink. However, beer does contain purines because the cells of the raw material, wheat, are dissolved in it.
So, it’s not as if you should just stop drinking beer.
For example, if a person’s uric acid level is over 10.0mg/dL, it will not go down to the normal level of 7.0mg/dL or below even if he restricts his diet.
Therefore, even if the beer is purine-free, the uric acid level will not decrease much in theory. The same goes for food.
Effective means of lowering uric acid levels
If you’re wondering what’s the quickest and most effective way to lower uric acid levels, it’s to lose weight!
When the human body is in a state of obesity, its ability to eliminate uric acid is reduced.
When the human body becomes obese, it loses its ability to eliminate uric acid, and when uric acid cannot be eliminated from the body, uric acid levels naturally rise. Therefore, if your weight is higher than the average weight, simply losing weight will normalize your uric acid level. Another effective way is to take medication that lowers uric acid levels.
Even if you buy and eat purine-free foods, it is impossible to reduce your total purine intake from food to zero, so losing weight is much more effective than worrying about this and that for a small portion of about 30%. Also, as mentioned above, taking medication is a good idea.
Uric Acid Levels and Alcohol
I’ve explained all this, but even so, “The day after I drank beer with yakiniku(barbecue), my uric acid level went up and my gout attack got worse. Isn’t beer bad after all? You may be thinking so?
That is a big mistake.
Beer is not the culprit.
As I mentioned earlier, drinking beer produces only a small fraction of the uric acid. It’s produced by about 30% of all beer.
The real culprit that raises uric acid levels is, quite simply, dehydration.
When you consume alcohol, not just beer, your body becomes dehydrated. Alcohol has a diuretic effect, which means that more water than you drink will be lost in urine. Among all alcohols, beer is said to have a particularly strong diuretic effect. Water is also needed to break down the alcohol itself.
As mentioned above, it is easy to become dehydrated after drinking due to the diuretic effect and alcohol breakdown.
Dehydration causes the blood to become concentrated, which in turn causes the uric acid level to rise further. This is when a gout attack occurs.
It is the concentration of blood that is the problem, so if you hydrate and dilute your blood properly, you can reduce gout attacks. In fact, when people with recurrent gout attacks were kept hydrated all the time, they did not have gout attacks. It’s very simple, but it’s important to rehydrate after drinking.
Finally.
Finally, to reiterate, the important thing to do to lower uric acid levels is to lose weight.
And in order to prevent gout attacks, you need to stay hydrated.
If you are not sure if that is enough, please take medication to lower your uric acid level on a regular basis.